Fender 50's Telecaster electric guitar review

No doubt plenty of these will be sold on their looks alone, but a guitar is only as good as the sound it makes. So it will come as a relief to many prospective buyers that the Road Worn series are no furniture instruments – they're players.
The '50s Tele has plenty of grunt and muscle when put through an overdriven amp, and serves up the throaty rock roar that's made it such a favourite through the ages. Clean it up and the country sparkle is there, alongside the warm rhythm tones you'd expect. All in all, it's a classic Telecaster.
The '50s Strat has all the usual tones you'd hope to find, from the percussive bell-like chime of the neck pickup through to the wiry, nasty spite of the bridge when used in anger and combined with overdrive. The sounds are good, although lacking a little in depth, and would be perfectly acceptable in most situations where you'd normally use a Strat. The star, though, has to be the '60s Strat which has an airy, breathy, open tone that sounds a lot more like the vintage guitar it pretends to be. Maybe it's the piece of wood the body's made out of or the effect of the rosewood board, but whatever it is the result is one fabulous-sounding guitar.

Build: Ash body (on blonde, alder on two-colour sunburst), maple neck, 21 narrow-jumbo frets on maple fingerboard, single-ply scratchplate, Ping machineheads, vintage-style three-saddle strings-through-body bridge

Electrics: Two Tex-Mex Tele single-coil pickups, three-way switch, master volume and tone controls

Scale length: 648mm/25.5"
Neck width:
Nut 42mm
12th fret 52mm
Depth of neck:
First fret 24mm
12th fret 25mm
String spacing:
Nut 35mm
Bridge 55mm
Action as supplied:
12th fret treble 2mm
12th fret bass 3mm